Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /ʌ/

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Below are lists of words that vary only by one having the sound /æ/ and the other the sound /ʌ/. You can use this to practise the sounds or as a list of words to be careful to pronounce properly.

/æ/ and /ʌ/ are the two closest vowel sounds in English and so it is very difficult to hear and pronounce the difference. In fact, in some American accents there is no distinction between the two. It is still worth language learners working on the difference between them, however, as there are many words that vary only by this sound.